Glebar Company Inc. Advanced Centerless Guide Wire Grinder GT-9AC

The GT-9AC is designed to grind medical guidewires with multiple tapers, paddles, and even parabolic shapes, all at the fast speeds of a conventional centerless grinder. Using the latest in high speed imaging technology and a 1 micron encoder the whole length of the feeder, the machine is able to update the position of the wire every 0.00025" (0.006 mm) at typical grinding speeds. Faster position updates result in better length accuracy and repeatability, allowing the GT-9AC to easily hold the tighter tolerances required by today's guidewires. The GT-9AC has no fixed sensors or sensing banks! Changing wire length or wire profile is easy and takes only seconds. The maximum length of grind is limited only by the overall length of the feeding system. Things that were simply not possible before, like changing the speed of the regulating mid-profile, are accomplished effortlessly. Both the upper and lowers slides of the GT-9AC feature 0.1 um glass scale feedback, this allows for blades to be sized automatically on the machine. Combine this with the increased thermal and mechanical stability of a granite base, and the result is improved blade life and more consistent setups. Double-ended grinds or grinding multiple parts from the same wire are possible when using the optional Extractor. When combined with the Spool Cutter, it is possible to take NiTi or SLT stainless directly from spool to finished part. The Glebar Advantage Traditional guidewire centerless grinders use sensors to detect the wire position and trigger diameter changes. This limits the number of tapers the system can produce. Since the GT-9AC, has no sensors, there is virtually no limit to the number of tapers and creating parabolic shapes is a breeze. Traditionally, sensors or sensing systems must be physically moved by the operator or technician to change the profile or wire length. For the GT-9AC all of this is accomplished automatically with a few clicks of the touchscreen, significantly reducing setup time. With a centerless grinder, as the slide retracts and part diameter increases, the rate of the part through the machine increases. With fixed sensors there is no feedback in between sensor points to detect this change. This causes an unwanted non-linear or 'bowed' profile shape. The GT-9AC updates wire position constantly, so it is unaffected by changes to the wire feedrate. The result is crisp clear tapers that look like they've been drawn with a ruler. Glebar has over four decades experience grinding guidewires in stainless steel, Nitnol, and other materials, with both conventional and superabrasive wheels. Contact Glebar for more information, or to have samples of your parts ground on the GT-9AC.